(25–26) “They remained in their cave for three hundred years and added nine. * Say, ‘Allah knows best how long they remained. To Him belongs the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How perfectly He sees and hears! They have no protector besides Him, and He shares His rule with no one.’”

After Allah had forbidden him to consult the People of the Book concerning the Companions of the Cave, since they had no knowledge of the matter, Allah—the Knower of the unseen and the seen, who knows all things—informed him how long they remained there and that knowledge of this rests with Him alone. It is part of the unseen of the heavens and the earth, which belongs exclusively to Him. Whatever He discloses of it through His messengers is the certain truth, in which there is no doubt; and whatever He does not disclose to His messengers is unknown to every created being.

His statement, “How perfectly He sees and hears!” expresses wonder at the perfection of His hearing and sight and at how fully they encompass everything audible and visible, after He had stated that His knowledge encompasses everything knowable. He then declared that He alone possesses both universal and special guardianship. He is the Guardian who governs the entire universe and the Guardian of His believing servants: He brings them out of darkness into light, facilitates for them the path of ease, and keeps them from hardship. Hence He said, “They have no protector ⦗475⦘ besides Him.” That is, He was the One who cared for the Companions of the Cave through His kindness and generosity and did not entrust them to any created being.

“And He shares His rule with no one.” This includes both His universal, predestined decree and His religious, legislative rule. He alone rules over His creation through decree and predestination, creation and governance; and He rules over them through His commands and prohibitions, reward and punishment.